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Tenth edition of ICC U19 CWC - another exciting chapter in tournament’s history

Take a look at some of the finest moments in the tournament's rich history which have produced well-deserved champions

Vijay Zol (C) will lead India, the defending champions.

The ICC U19 Cricket World Cup UAE 2014 will be the tenth edition of the event that was first staged in Australia in 1988 as part of Australia’s Bicentenary celebrations.

It became a biennial event in 1997-98 and since then, is seen as an important opportunity for the up-and-coming players to perform on the world stage and increase their awareness and understanding of the sport’s codes, including anti-doping and anti-corruption.

There are many other positive learning opportunities for players at the event, including promotional and social responsibilities and dealing with the international news media through interviews and press conferences. The ICC assists them with education and support in these areas.

In addition to this, Fox STAR Sports, the ICC’s broadcast partner till 2015, televises live matches from one of the venues. Live action from 10 matches at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville, Australia, had been relayed to more than 180 countries from the 2012 edition. From the edition before that, 10 matches at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, New Zealand, were relayed in more than 100 countries in 2010.

We take a trip down the memory lane to relive some of the finest memories of the previous events, which have produced well-deserved champions and seen some of the most outstanding individual performances by players including those who have gone on to lead their national sides at the highest level.

1988 – Australia

The inaugural event was staged in Victoria and South Australia from 28 February to 13 March and featured the then seven Full Members – Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and West Indies – and an ICC Associates XI.

In a single league format, Australia and Pakistan finished on top of the points table and faced off in the final where Australia defeated Pakistan by five wickets at the Adelaide Oval. Batting first, Pakistan scored 201 in 49.3 overs with Inzamam-ul-Haq finishing as the top scorer with 37. Shahid Nawaz and Zahoor Elahi scored 35 each, while Basit Ali scored 23. For Australia, Wayne Holdsworth and captain Geoff Parker equally shared six wickets between them.

In turn, opener Brett Williams scored a fine 108 to guide his side to victory with 25 balls to spare. Stuart Law chipped in with 44 and featured in a 97-run second wicket stand with Williams.

Stalwarts like Mike Atherton, Nasser Hussain, (both England), Lee Germon, Chris Cairns (both New Zealand), Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan), Brian Lara, Jimmy Adams, Ridley Jacobs (all West Indies) and Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), who appeared in this event, went on to captain their national sides.

Mark Ramprakash, who in 2008 became the 23rd and last to score hundred first-class centuries, also represented England in this tournament while Aminul Islam, who represented ICC Associates XI in the event, went on to become Bangladesh’s first century-maker in a Test when he scored 145 against India in Dhaka in his country’s inaugural Test in November 2000.

India’s Narendra Hirwani had come into this event after taking 16-136 against the West Indies in the Chennai Test. This still remains as best bowling performance in a match by an India bowler.

Other players who played at the highest level for a longer period of time include Mushtaq Ahmed, Basit Ali, Aqib Javed (all Pakistan), Romesh Kaluwitharana, Sanjeeva Ranatunga, Chandika Hathurusingha (all Sri Lanka), Allan Mullally (who represented Australia but played international cricket for England), Nayan Mongia (India), Stuart Law (Australia), Tim de Leede (the Netherlands) and Mark Hastings, Chris Cairns and Shane Thomson (all New Zealand).

1998 – South Africa

The event was held in South Africa from 11 January to 1 February with 16 teams participating in it, including the then nine Full Members and seven qualifiers – Bangladesh, Denmark, Ireland, Kenya, Namibia, Papua New Guinea and Scotland.

In the Super League final at the Wanderers, England defeated New Zealand by seven wickets – thanks to opener Stephen Peters’ 107. Owais Shah scored 54 not out and Graeme Swann chipped in with an unbeaten 22 in a fourth wicket unbroken stand of 31 runs as England achieved the 242 runs target in 46 overs.

Earlier, New Zealand’s 241 had revolved around James Franklin’s 56 not out, Peter McGlashan’s 53, James Marshall’s 26, Lou Vincent’s 19 and Hamish Marshall’s 14. Giles Haywood was England’s most successful bowler with three for 18.

In the Plate Championship final, Bangladesh defeated the West Indies by six wickets despite Chris Gayle’s whirlwind 141. However, Al Sahariar (90 not out), Mehrab Hossain (63) put on 103 runs for the third wicket to ensure their side achieved the 245-run mark with 19 balls to spare.

Sri Lanka played host to the third edition of the tournament from 11-28 January. The event featured the then nine Full Members and seven qualifiers – Americas Region, Bangladesh, Ireland, Namibia, Nepal and the Netherlands.

In the Super League final at the Sinhalese Sports Club, India defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets to win the first of its three ICC U19 CWC titles. Sri Lanka, batting first, managed only 178 in 48.1 overs with Jehan Mubarak scoring 58 while Shalabh Srivastava finished as the pick of India bowlers with three for 33. India achieved victory for the loss of four wickets in 40.4 overs with man of the match Reetinder Sodhi scoring 39 not out, Niraj Patel 34 not out, Yuvraj Singh and Manish Sharma 27 each and Mohammad Kaif 18.

In the Plate final at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy, South Africa defeated Bangladesh by 80 runs. Batting first, South Africa scored 213 in 49.4 overs with Graeme Smith top scoring with 51 and Jonathan Trott, who now represents England, contributing 41. In turn, Bangladesh was dismissed for 133 in 47.5 overs with Dewald Senekal taking three for 20 and Albie Morkel bagging two for 36.

Graeme Smith, who is the current South Africa Test captain, finished as the leading run-getter with 348 runs while Pakistan’s Zahid Saeed was the most successful bowler with 15 wickets at an average of seven runs per wicket. India’s Yuvraj Singh, however, won the player of the tournament award.

Yuvraj, in 2008 in Dubai, also won the ICC T20I Performance of the Year at the LG ICC Awards for his six sixes against Stuart Broad in an ICC World Twenty20 2007 match in Durban.

While Trott won the ICC Cricketer of the Year Award at the LG ICC Awards in London in 2011 and McCullum won the ICC T20I Performance of the Year Award at the LG ICC Awards in Bengaluru in 2010, Ian Bell, who represented England in this tournament, won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards in Mumbai in 2006.

New Zealand hosted the tournament for the first time from 19 January to 9 February. The event featured the 10 Full Members along with six qualifiers – Canada, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Scotland.

In the Super League final, Australia won its second title when it defeated South Africa by seven wickets. Batting first, South Africa scored 206-9 in 50 overs with Greg Smith scoring 51, Hashim Amla 29 and Zwelibanzi Homani 52. For Australia, Aaron Bird took four for 47. In its chase, Australia achieved victory in 45.1 overs with opener Jarrad Burke hitting 100 off 130 balls and was well supported by Craig Simmons (24), Shaun Marsh (35) and captain Cameron White (22).

In the Plate Championship final, Zimbabwe defeated Nepal by 137 runs after Zimbabwe opener Brendan Taylor scored 100 not out, Charles Coventry smashed 64 and Tatenda Taibu returned unbeaten on 65. In turn, Nepal, chasing 248 for victory, was dismissed for 110 with Hamilton Masakadza bagging three for 16.

Tatenda Taibu walked away with the player of the tournament award, Cameron White finished as the leading run-getter with 423 runs and left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty ended up as the most successful bowler with 16 wickets at just under 10 runs per wicket.

While Coventry at one time shared the world record along with Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar for the highest individual in an ODI (194), Taylor is the current Zimbabwe captain.

Also, Hashim Amla has led South Africa, White has led Australia in Twenty20 Internationals, Mohammad Ashraful has captained Bangladesh in the last decade, Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy have skippered the West Indies, and Brendon Taylor and Elton Chigumbura have led Zimbabwe.

India’s Irfan Pathan, who won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year Award at the LG ICC Awards in 2004 in London and later picked up a hat-trick off the first three balls of the Karachi Test against Pakistan in 2005-06, also played in this tournament.

India captain at the event, Parthiv Patel, became the youngest wicket-keeper to represent India in Tests later in the same year.

Gul also won the ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards 2013 for his spell of 5-6 from 2.2 overs versus South Africa in March 2013.

2004 – Bangladesh

Bangladesh hosted its first of two ICC U19 Cricket World Cups in 2004 from 15 February to 5 March. Apart from the 10 Full Members, Canada, Kenya, Namibia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Scotland participated as qualifiers.

In the Super League final, Pakistan defeated the West Indies by 25 runs to win its first ICC U19 CWC title. Batting first, Pakistan collected 230 for nine in 50 overs with man of the match Asif Iqbal scoring 54, Sulaman Qadir 42, Adnan Zaheer 33 and Zulqarnain Haider 23. For the West Indies, Rishi Bachan took three for 34 while Ravi Rampaul bagged one for 54. In turn, the West Indies was bowled out for 205 in 47.1 overs with captain and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin scoring 36, Tishan Maraj 32, Xavier Marshall 26 and Jonathan Augustus 25. For Pakistan, Tariq Mahmood took three for 34 and Jahangir Mirza claimed two for 29.

In the Plate Championship final, half centuries by Naeem Islam (66), Nafees Iqbal (59) and Aftab Ahmed (57) helped Bangladesh to 257-9 in 50 overs. In turn, Australia was bowled out for 249 with three balls to spare to hand the home side victory by eight runs. Stephen O’Keefe with 65 and Ahilen Beadle with 54 were the main run-getters for Australia while Enamul Haque was the pick of Bangladesh bowlers with figures of 9.3-1-31-5.

Shikhar Dhawan of India with 505 runs was declared the player of the tournament while local hero Enamul Haque with 22 wickets was the most successful bowler.

From this event, Alastair Cook has moved on to lead England, Suresh Raina has captained India, Angelo Mathews is currently at the helm of Sri Lanka, Denesh Ramdin has skippered West Indies and Prosper Utseya has captained Zimbabwe. In fact, Cook won the ICC Test Player of the Year award at the LG ICC Awards in London in 2011.

Pakistan became the only country to win back-to-back titles when it defeated India by 38 runs in a low-scoring thriller at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed led the Pakistan side in the event which was held from 5 to 19 February and featured the 10 Full Members along with Ireland, Namibia, Nepal, Scotland, Uganda and United States of America (USA).

Electing to bat first, Pakistan was skittled out for 109 in 47.1 overs with Rameez Raja scoring 25. For India, Piyush Chawla took four for eight while Ravindra Jadeja claimed three for 16. In turn, India was bundled out for 71 in 18.5 overs after Chawla (25) and Pinal Shah (16) put on 39 runs for the eighth wicket. For Pakistan, man of the match Anwar Ali returned figures of 9-0-35-5 and he was well supported by Akhtar Ayub (three for nine) and Jamshed Ahmed (two for 24).

In the Plate Championship final, Nepal held its nerves to defeat New Zealand by one wicket at the P Sara Stadium. New Zealand batted first and scored 204 in 49.2 overs with Todd Astle top scoring with 66. In turn, the last wicket pair of Ratan Rauniyar (26 not out) and Raj Shrestha added 13 runs in eight balls to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Basant Regmi, for his innings of 66, was declared the man of the match.

India’s Cheteshwar Pujara, for his series aggregate of 349 runs at an average of just over 116, was adjudged the player of the tournament. The bowling honours went to Australia’s Moises Henriques, who took 16 wickets, followed by Pakistan’s Anwar Ali, who bagged 15 wickets.

Bangladesh produced two national captains from this tournament – Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, while Kieron Pollard has led the West Indies.

Virat Kohli became the second India captain to lift the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup when his side defeated South Africa by 12 runs via the Duckworth/Lewis Method at the Kinrara Academy Oval ground in Kuala Lumpur, when the event was staged from 17 February to 2 March in Malaysia.

India batted first and was dismissed for 159 in 45.4 overs but South Africa’s target was revised to 116 runs in 25 over due to rain. However, apart from Reeza Hendricks (35) and Wayne Parnell (29), no South Africa batsman could face the India bowlers comfortably as it finished twelve runs short of the target at 103 for eight. India fast bowler Ajitesh Argal, for his figures of 5-2-7-2, was declared the player of the final.

In the Plate Championship final, West Indies defeated Nepal by seven wickets at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur.

Nepal was bowled out for a paltry 74 in 25.3 overs after man of the match Jason Dawes took four for 18 and Darren Bravo picked up three for nine. The West Indies achieved victory in 14.2 overs.

India’s Tanmay Srivastava was the leading run-getter with 262 runs, followed by West Indies’ Kieran Powell (253) and Virat Kohli (235). However, Tim Southee returned strongly after a disappointing 2006 campaign to capture 17 wickets at an average of 6.64 per wicket and won the player of the tournament award. Wayne Parnell of South Africa was, nevertheless, the leading wicket-taker in the series with 18 wickets at just over eight runs per wicket.

The tournament, apart from the 10 Full Members, also featured Bermuda, Ireland, Malaysia, Namibia, Nepal and Papua New Guinea.

From this edition, Virat Kohli has gone on to captain India, Kane Williamson has skippered New Zealand and Dinesh Chandimal has led Sri Lanka.

Southee won the T20I Performance of the Year Award for his five for 18 against Pakistan on 26 December 2010 in Auckland while Finn won the ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year at the LG ICC Awards in London in 2011.

2010 – New Zealand

After a gap of eight years, the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup returned to New Zealand and once again Australia won the title, its third overall. The tournament was staged from 15-30 January and in the final at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, Mitchell Marsh’s side outsmarted Azeem Ghumman’s Pakistan by 25 runs.

In the Plate Championship final, Bangladesh defeated Ireland by 175 runs after the winners scored 307-8 and then bowled out the European side for 112 in 38.4 overs.

South Africa batsman Dominic Hendricks was declared the player of the tournament for finishing as the top scorer with 391 runs at an average of just under 98. He was followed by the West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite 335 and Pakistan’s Babar Azam 298.

Australia hosted the ICC U19 CWC for the first time since the inaugural edition as India became only the second country to win the title three times, after Australia. The tournament was staged from 11-26 August, and in the final at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville, India beat the host by six wickets.

After winning the toss and electing to field first, India restricted Australia to 225-8. Home captain Will Bosisto scored an unbeaten 87, while Sandeep Sharma took 4-54 from 10 overs for India. In reply, India captain and man of the match Unmukt Chand posted a fluent, unbeaten 111 to take his side to victory alongside Smit Patel, who remained undefeated on 62 and put on a match-winning, unbroken 130-run stand for the fifth wicket with Chand from 23.2 overs.

In the Plate Championship final, Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan by seven wickets. Afghanistan posted 194-9 from its allotted 50 overs after winning the toss. Sri Lanka’s chase was powered by man of the match Niroshan Dickwella, who scored an unbeaten 76.

Australia captain Will Bosisto, who had the highest batting average of the 2012 edition (276, thanks to as many runs from six innings with just one dismissal) was named the player of the tournament. Anamul Haque of Bangladesh was the highest run-getter with 365, with Babar Azam of Pakistan in second place with 287.

Reece Topley of England was the highest wicket-taker, with 19 scalps from six matches. Lahiru Madushanka of Sri Lanka followed him in the bowling charts with 15 wickets, ahead of Nepal’s Rahul Vishwakarma, who had 13 in his kitty.

Apart from the 10 Full Member nations, the event also featured Afghanistan, Ireland, Namibia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Scotland, who all qualified through the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier Ireland 2011 to complete the 16-team line-up.

Among those who featured in this tournament before going on to play international cricket were Javed Ahmadi, Aftab Alam, Shabir Noori, Najibullah Zadran, Noor-ul-Haq (all Afghanistan), Anamul Haque (Bangladesh), George Dockrell (Ireland), Ehsan Adil (Pakistan), Ish Sodhi (New Zealand), Quinton de Kock (South Africa) and Kraigg Brathwaite (West Indies).